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Search Intensifies For Motive In Killing Of Charlie Kirk; Video Showing Kirk Being Shot Spread Quickly On Social Media; Trump Tells NATO Countries: Stop Buying Russian Oil; NATO Launches "Eastern Flank" Operation After Russian Drone Incident; Zelenskyy: I Don't Believe NATO Has Failed; Empowering Young People Through Music. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired September 13, 2025 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:36]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

And tonight we do have breaking news as plans are now set for a memorial for conservative political activist Charlie Kirk. That memorial will be held next Sunday, September 21st at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. That stadium seats over 63,000 people.

This new information as investigators in Utah still trying to piece together exactly what led up to Kirk's shocking assassination.

Officials say the suspect they have in custody is this man -- 22-year- old Tyler Robinson. More details have surfaced about Robinson's background but there are still some key questions about what drove him, a scholarship winner from a close-knit suburban family, to that rooftop where he allegedly fatally shot Kirk.

CNN's Danny Freeman is joining us now from Utah.

Danny, there are still a lot of people who have a lot of questions about how this happened, why this happened, what this man's motive might have been. What are you learning there on the ground in Utah?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Jessica.

Still so many outstanding questions about 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, the main suspect in this shooting case right here. He currently is in the Utah county jail. That's about 250 miles northwest of where we are right now in St. George, Utah where he lived, grew up, where his family lived.

And as far as we understand, he's not speaking to authorities at this time. So we've seen investigators here on the ground in St. George really combing over every piece of evidence they can to try and understand what might have driven this young man to, again, commit this shooting allegedly against Charlie Kirk earlier in the week. So let me tell you a little bit about what we do know at this point.

Like you noted, Jessica, as far as we understand, he was living a fairly normal life here in St. George in southwest Utah.

He was a good student. He was a part of a close-knit family. He got a merit scholarship specifically to Utah State University. He only ended up attending that university for about a semester then he ultimately left.

He went on to a technical college. He was working to try and study to be an electrician. And he was very into video games, as we've learned from other people who have known him, who have spoken to CNN, but also pretty quiet as well and not overtly political unless prompted.

In fact, an electrician who actually worked with Robinson not too long ago said to CNN that he wasn't very talkative unless you talked to him first and that comes with politics as well.

Now this all despite bullet markings that had memes inscripted on them, also, some video game language as well. Investigators still searching for a pinpoint moment, a clear moment that they can look at to say this is maybe what drove him to, again, take that drive and go and take that shot at Charlie Kirk.

I want you to take a listen, though, to what the governor of Utah told Anderson Cooper last night when asked about the question of how this possibly could have happened there's so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COX (R), GOVERNOR, UTAH: There's so much we still don't know. But certainly there was a radicalization that happened in a fairly short amount of time.

And again, that's not to -- sometimes when we talk about people getting radicalized, that's to blame others instead of the person. And I don't want to take away that agency. This person made a terrible decision and will pay the price for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Now, one thing I'll just note Jessica, Robinson was a registered voter, I should say, is a registered voter, but he's unaffiliated with any party in the area that he is registered to vote down here in southwest Utah.

The other thing I'll note, Jessica, is the big date that we all now have circled on our calendars is this coming Tuesday. That's when formal charges will be filed. And that's when we're expecting to see Robinson make his first court appearance.

And then the following week, as you noted, that memorial that's going to be upcoming for Charlie Kirk in his home state of Arizona, Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Danny Freeman with the latest from Washington County, Utah. Thank you for that. Let's bring in retired FBI supervisory special agent James Gagliano.

James, thank you for being here with us. I really appreciate it.

Let's listen to what the Utah governor said about this suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COX: I think maybe what stands out is that nothing stands out the way you would normally expect.

[17:04:47]

COX: You know, this is a this is a good family, a normal childhood. All of those things that -- that you would hope would never leave to -- lead to something like this. And sadly, it did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: I think a lot of people, as we just were talking about with Danny, are searching for answers here, searching for what motivated him to have allegedly done this.

What stands out to you as we hear from the governor there of Utah explaining that in this particular case what is kind of weird is that there -- there, you know, there was a normal childhood, in his words, that sort of thing.

JAMES GAGLIANO, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Yes, Jessica. I think we're really at an inflection point here.

Look the country is no stranger to political violence. We've had four presidents assassinated while they were in office. And even in recent vintage, whether you're speaking about Gabby Giffords or, you know, Justice Kavanaugh. This is not normal, but it's almost expected in the high-ranking official realm.

The fact that the target here was an interlocutor. It was somebody that was engaging in debate on a college campus, you know, that's what kind of makes this stand out as slightly different, that we've moved into a different paradigm.

Now, having said that, to put a fine point on your question, what are the similarities and where's the incongruity here?

And here's the thing. Let's look back at the last four or five mass shootings. They've all involved, whether it was the attempted assassination of President Trump in Butler, whether it was the attack on the church in Minneapolis, whether it was the assassination of the CEO, the health care CEO in Manhattan -- these are all young men. They're all in their early 20s. They're all millennials. They're disaffected and disconnected.

And Jessica, that's the thread between terrorism and criminality. And in this instance, a political assassination. It's the thread that you've got to pull on that these are young people, young men.

DEAN: And if you dig a little deeper into that, where do you go from there? Is that being extremely online.

And the governor is right. There is -- this is not to take away from any choices that somebody made here? But -- but to -- but to extremely online, to have the potential to be radicalized by that.

GAGLIANO: You certainly do. I mean, you know, the opportunity that we can, you know, pick up our phone. It's a personal computer in our pocket, and we can be anywhere in the world. We can -- we can listen to things and see things. There are no borders. And that's a good thing.

However, I know that in the past there were discussions about violent video games, and I know that that's been debunked and knocked down, that violent video games and the generation that grew up on them, that doesn't necessarily lead to mass shootings.

These are people that obviously have mental illnesses, but they obviously have the ability to kind of lack humanity. That they can look at a person like, whether it's Charlie Kirk or President Trump or -- or someone else, they can look at them, see them absent of being a human.

And look, being a sniper is different than being a mass shooter. Mass shooting is much more personal and up close.

Here, the shooter was about 200 yards away. It's almost like the god complex that I can take your life from here, but I don't have to be close enough to touch it or see you.

So it's a very interesting paradigm in what we're facing right now in law enforcement.

DEAN: And then, James, take us into the investigation right now as someone with a lot of experience within the FBI. What are they doing right now? What happens next?

GAGLIANO: Yes. There have been a lot of criticisms. And look, I'll say this to catch this guy in 33 hours -- now, initially, there was speculation this was a trained professional assassin. And I think many of us that speak about this for a living and that have a law enforcement background and were former snipers in law enforcement or in the military, knew that that wasn't the case.

It was a very short-range shot. And just the manner in which the shooter tried to egress out of there. If he had jumped off that building, gotten into a car, and drove off onto I-15, he could have been hundreds of miles away before anybody could have tracked him down.

But to be stumbling around the parking lot, stumbling around the contiguous neighborhoods, you knew that this was an amateur.

Look, there's a lot of work to be done. The first part is, thankfully, thank God we have this person in custody.

Jessica, Now the hard work begins. Putting the case together. I'm certain that they're going to attach murder charges at the state level here and then maybe the feds come in.

Is it possible to attach a political assassination statute to this or a terrorism statute for domestic terrorism? Absolutely possible. And I think we'll learn a lot in the next couple of days.

DEAN: James Gagliano, thank you so much for being here with us. We appreciate it.

GAGLIANO: Jessica, thanks for having me.

DEAN: Yes.

Many people saw the video of Charlie Kirk killing in the minutes and hours after his death. A lot of people, without even knowing what they were about to see.

[17:09:50]

DEAN: Up next, were going to talk with a clinical psychologist about the collective toll of exposure to traumatic images like this, seeing them over and over again.

And later, President Trump is demanding a huge change for NATO as he signals a potential shift in how he deals with Russia and President Putin.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:14:45]

DEAN: Social media platforms are taking steps to remove or limit the amount of graphic content being shared online following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

TikTok says its removing any video showing close ups of the shooting. YouTube also removing any graphic videos while Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, is adding a warning label and restricting any videos to adult users only.

But it's likely the damage has already been done because within hours of that shooting, really minutes of that shooting, millions of people had already seen the extremely graphic images and videos of Kirk being shot.

Utah's Governor Spencer Cox, gave a passionate plea, urging everyone to stay off social media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COX: This is not good for us. It is not good to consume. Social media is a cancer on our society right now. And I would encourage, again I would encourage people to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now is Dr. Jeff Gardere. He's a clinical psychologist and professor of behavioral medicine at Touro University. Thank you so much for being here with us.

To hear him say, this is a cancer. And to realize that millions of people watched this graphic, horrible thing happen over and over and over again on their phone with just like a flick of a button. What does that do to us?

DR. JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, studies have shown, of course, that social media does have a negative effect on the minds of people, especially the minds of very young people. Their brains are not fully formed -- for women until the ages of around 23; for men ages around 27.

And therefore this can have a very drastic and negative emotional impact on their development -- the way that they see the world, the way they think of themselves, sometimes even dysregulating their moods.

And in this particular case, watching this video, uninvited for many over and over again as it was passed along either through algorithms or sent by friends or some other way, I think has taken a negative toll and may perhaps continue to take a negative toll on those kids who perhaps can't tear themselves away from something that seems so spectacular but at the same time is so horrific.

DEAN: It's not even just kids. It's the idea that as human beings, we are watching the assassination and violent death of another person right on our phones.

And look, you think back to President Kennedy's assassination and the Zapruder film and that grainy footage. That was not on a loop. People weren't watching that on a loop on their phones.

This is different. And the world we live in now is different. And it is hard to think that as human beings, as a collective society, that's good for us.

DR. GARDERE: Yes. And that's why this is so horrific. These are things that we're used to seeing perhaps in action movies. In more adult, you know, PG or other types of movies.

But here is something that is real. This is something that we carry in our pocket, that we can go to at any time. So when I say spectacular, I'm not meaning something that's oh so amazing. What I'm saying is it's something that kids are not used to seeing.

And because of that, they get the dopamine hits. That is that neurotransmitter that says, ooh, that was interesting. Let's watch that again. It's something that we haven't seen in real life.

And because of that lure, it becomes even more difficult sometimes for kids to put that down. It lowers their tolerance for seeing these sorts of things. And it does impact their behaviors, their personalities and how they view the world, usually in a very negative, maybe sometimes an even hopeless way.

This is something that, as parents, we have to tell them, put down the phones, as we've heard from others.

(CROSSTALK)

DEAN: Maybe, people should put down the phones too, is what I'm saying. You know, like adults don't need to be watching this.

DR. GARDERE: Well, absolutely. And that -- and that comes to your point. As adults, we have to be role models and we have to put down those phones, too.

But this is also a time that we have to more than anything else, monitor what our kids are seeing and making sure that it is not something that is graphic like this.

And yes, you're absolutely right, Jessica. As adults, we have to model the proper behavior and put those phones down and not look at these sorts of things that are a tragedy to the people involved, certainly, but a tragedy for our society.

DEAN: Yes. And Dr. Gardere, to your point, and this is a very real piece of this, this is a person with a family, and this feels, you know, so violating on so many levels when they are already grieving.

[17:19:47]

DEAN: And this is just one example. There are other examples beyond this. But of course this is an extreme example of this.

But you think about the individual and their family and their loved ones that also have to deal with the fact that this is everywhere.

DR. GARDERE: And I think what that does, it starts to erase the empathy that we should have for one another and how people may suffer what the consequences of a shooting like this may have not just on the person who was killed, but on society itself.

And what we do need is more empathy, respect and understanding in dealing with one another and not just seeing people as a figure in a telephone. And that in many ways, I think just makes our society so much more sick.

And we have to take control, especially after these series of events that have happened in the past few months and years in society.

DEAN: Yes. And also to just more broadly, getting off of the social media. And just as a society experiencing this moment in time and the myriad of horrible shootings and violence that we have seen, political violence over the last several years.

Again, as many people have noted, this is not new to the American story, but we have certainly seen a lot of it lately. What does that do to us as a democratic society, as the United States of America? DR. GARDERE: I think this is a time when we all have to stop. Bring down the tone of the rhetoric. Make sure our political leaders are upholding some of the values of humanity, and caring from one for one another.

But more than anything else, this is a time for us to understand that respect is the most important thing that we can have for one another. We can agree to disagree. But the most important thing is we have to find common ground.

DEAN: All right. Dr. Jeff Gardere, thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate it.

DR. GARDERE: Thank you.

DEAN: Political violence as we mentioned, has threatened our democracy in the past. And after this latest tragedy, where does America go from here?

CNN is going to explore that topic tomorrow night with "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER: POLITICAL VIOLENCE, AMERICA'S BLOODY HISTORY". It airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only here on CNN.

Meantime, NATO says it is launching a brand-new operation to boost its defenses after Russian drones entered Poland's airspace before being shot down.

We're going to ask a former Supreme Allied Commander for NATO about mounting such an effort.

That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:22:26]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: President Trump is hitting NATO with a stern new ultimatum tonight that could mark a shift in America's efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Trump says he is willing to put major sanctions on Russia, but only when NATO countries agree to do the same and stop buying oil from Russia.

Earlier this week, Moscow said peace talks had stalled. Trump's demands come just after Poland and NATO scrambled jets to shoot down Russian drones that crossed into Poland's airspace.

CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein is joining us now.

Betsy, tell us more about what's driving the presidents push for this pivot.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Jessica.

Certainly, a lot of frustration at the pace of these negotiations. But President Trump issuing an ultimatum to NATO countries in a letter earlier this morning. He said that the U.S. will apply major sanctions on Russia if and only when NATO countries do the same and also stop buying Russian oil and gas.

Now, in that same letter, the president also called on NATO countries to significantly escalate tariffs on China, ramping them up to 50 to 100 percent tariffs in a show of force.

But meeting the president's demands would mark a significant policy change for many NATO countries. It's really unclear if there's going to be the buy in to take these kinds of steps.

But the president laying out his rationale in that letter, he writes, quote, "NATO's commitment to win has been far less than 100 percent and the purchase of Russian oil by some has been shocking. It greatly weakens your negotiating position and bargaining power over Russia."

Now, many of these countries still purchase Russian fossil fuels, as well as liquefied natural gas. Turkey, of course, which is a NATO member country, is a major purchaser of Russian oil.

And this is generally not how European countries approach their tariff policies. So it will be interesting to watch whether the president has influence over these countries on this issue.

And all of this comes as there has been such a stall in momentum to end Russia's war in Ukraine. Russia certainly not showing signs that it plans to de-escalate, as we saw with the Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace earlier this week.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio asked about that earlier today. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: I don't think anybody's happy about it seeing it happen (ph) -- how you saw NATO respond to it appropriately. We don't want to see it happen again. We think it's an unacceptable and unfortunate and dangerous development in this regard.

I think it will take a few more days for everybody to fully -- the drones were intentionally launched. There's no doubt about the drones were intentionally launched. The question is whether the drones were targeted to go into Poland specifically.

If that's the case, that the evidence leads us there, then obviously that would be a highly escalatory move.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:29:46]

KLEIN: Now, President Trump says that his patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin is running out and running out fast. But it remains to be seen whether his latest demands risk prolonging this conflict in Ukraine, Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Betsy Klein there in New Jersey, thank you so much for that reporting.

And Trump's new demands come as NATO starts hardening its western border after Russia flew those drones over Poland this week, as Betsy was just discussing there.

Let's bring in CNN senior military analyst, Admiral James Stavridis. He is also the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and a partner at the investment firm the Carlyle Group.

Thank you so much, Admiral for being here with us.

Let's start first from with what we just heard from Marco Rubio. They are calling this unacceptable, unfortunate, dangerous. He says they are trying to ascertain, were these drones targeted, and what might that mean if they were?

I'm curious, from your perspective and your experience. If that turns out to be the case, what happens next?

ADV. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: Secretary Rubio is absolutely correct. This is, in my view, a significant escalation on the part of the Kremlin. It's hard to imagine how that number of drones could mistakenly drift off course. One, maybe two, probably two dozen came in, many shot down by NATO defenses.

So, significant escalation in terms of what happens next, Jessica, I think the president is right to say we've got to continue the economic pressure. I would add it is time to consider seriously two additional military pressure points.

One would be to give the Ukrainians more offensive weapons that can strike longer and give them targeting information to go after drone production facilities in Russia.

And number two, more controversially, would be for NATO to seriously consider a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Those two things would get the Kremlin's attention.

DEAN: And how likely do you think that is?

STAVRIDIS: I think it is unlikely to happen in the immediate future. But the more we talk about it, the more NATO plans for it, the more NATO trains. What would a no-fly zone look like over Ukraine? Something that my successor as supreme allied commander at NATO is highly qualified to consider. He is an Air Force combat pilot, and I think, additionally, the president is right to be putting the economic pressure.

And I close with this, Jessica, it is still surprising to me that European nations are purchasing hydrocarbons from Russia. You mentioned Turkey, it's also Hungary and Slovakia.

And by the way, natural gas, the United States can export all the natural gas Europe needs.

So, we ought to do the economic pressure, but also bring in the military steps I mentioned.

DEAN: Yes. And so, until on that question of this ultimatum from President Trump with NATO allies about stopping their purchase of Russian oil, do you think they will be amenable to that?

STAVRIDIS: I think they will. And the more the United States pressurizes, the better. And this means that the conversations need to really get started in Brussels to get this done.

And, by the way, let's point out that the vast majority of Russian oil and gas is no longer purchased by Europe, but there is still some holdouts. President is right to call those out. At the same time, we're going to need not only that economic package, but also those sanctions, particularly against China.

And finally, I think we need to look at confiscation of Russian resources, their assets that are held in European banks and Brussels. Jessica, about $300-$400 billion at this point. We need both economic and military tools to get the attention of Vladimir Putin.

DEAN: And Admiral, we have a new clip. President Zelenskyy sat down with our colleague, Fareed Zakaria in Kyiv, yesterday at the Yalta European Strategy Conference. I want to listen to this. It's a bit of a -- it's a couple minutes. So, let's listen to what they said, and then, I do want to get your reaction the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: You have mentioned the Russian drones in Poland several times. Do you think NATO failed? What should NATO have done to respond to that attack?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): I do not believe -- I don't think that NATO has failed.

Everywhere where NATO is present, there is no war. So, we understand that there is a strong alliance, strong -- and strong allies. It's simply that I believe that now, when there are such signals coming to NATO countries, and let's be honest, during this war, there were no such massive attacks on the territory of NATO countries, but there were cases with Romania and Poland that -- so, it's not the first time.

[17:35:13]

I simply believe that there must be a response to him. The signals, we don't say here that NATO must use this or that weapon. Nobody wants to expand the war. Nobody is talking about that. At least, I am not the one to talk about that. We are -- we are not a NATO member. We are simply warning, and we are saying that strong answers are needed -- strong response.

For example, we'll give Ukraine certain weapons that Ukraine never had. Why? Because there are drones flying, and Ukrainians cannot down them, and some of them land on NATO countries, territories. So, we'll give Ukrainians the weapons that they have asked all along, and that weapon will hit not the drones, but the facilities, factories where those drones are being produced.

It's not about NATO, it's about Ukraine. That's it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Admiral, listening to you -- I hope you could hear President Zelenskyy there. But what did you think about what he had to say?

STAVRIDIS: It's exactly what I said at the top of this interview. They need longer range weapons to go after drone production facilities, drone staging areas, the fuel depots for the drones, those are smart targets. You're not attacking civilians. You're knocking down a threat. And at this point, those drones are a threat, quite clearly, not just to Ukraine, but to NATO.

So, I think the Article 4 consultations that are occurring right now in Brussels ought to take all that into account, provide those weapons. And I would add to it, as I mentioned, consider plan for a no-fly zone. That would be the next step. All of that needs to be on the table if collectively, we are going to stop Vladimir Putin.

DEAN: Admiral James Stavridis, thank you so much. Good to see you.

STAVRIDIS: Great seeing you, Jessica.

DEAN: Thank you. And just a note, you can watch that full interview with President Zelenskyy on "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS". It's tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. and one Eastern here on CNN.

As we learn more about the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, we are taking a step back to run the numbers on the massive impact Kirk had on President Trump's 2024 campaign by rallying young men. Harry Enten takes a look. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:42:26]

DEAN: When Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, Wednesday, he was speaking at Utah Valley University, a large crowd of young college students gathered for that outdoor, Prove Me Wrong Debate, where Kirk would challenge people to debate his political and cultural views.

Harry Enten joins us now to run the numbers and look at the impact Kirk had on today's younger voters.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Hey, Jessica.

As we remember Charlie Kirk, I think, of course, it's important to note that one of his main missions was to engage with and bring younger folks over to the conservative side of the aisle. And based upon the results of the last presidential election, I think, we can say he was quite successful in doing so.

What are we talking about? Well, let's take a look at 18 to 24-year- olds who voted for Donald Trump. That is voters under the age of 25. Look at this. In 2016, it was just 34 percent. Jump ahead to 2020, it was just 31 percent. But look in this past presidential election. In 2024, Donald Trump's percentage of voters under the age of 25 jumped all the way up to 43 percent of the vote.

Indeed, when you compare his percentage of the vote with that of Kamala Harris's, and we look at the margin, we can say that Trump had the best performance for any Republican nominee for president this entire century among voters under the age of 25.

Now, when we dig into the numbers a little bit deeper, we can see even more of the influence of Charlie Kirk. What are we talking about? Well, let's take a look at males under the age of 25. That is age 18 to 24-year-old males presidential margin. You go back to 2016. Hillary Clinton easily won that vote by 11 points. You jump ahead to 2020, you can see Joe Biden nearly doubled Clinton's margin. Won it by an even larger margin. Look at this, a 20-point win for Joe Biden.

But look at this past presidential election, Donald Trump actually won males under the age of 25. He won them by three points, and in doing so, became the first Republican nominee for president to win males under the age of 25 this entire century.

Now, one of the reasons that Donald Trump was so successful among younger voters was because of advice given to him by Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk said, bypass the traditional media, go straight on the podcast. Talk to younger voters where they are.

Indeed, that was one heck of a good piece of advice, because get this, where Generation Z prefers to get its news: only eight percent prefer to get it on television. Look at digital though, we're talking social media, we're talking podcasts, et cetera. 86 percent of Generation Z prefers to get its news through digital media.

So, that advice that Charlie Kirk gave to Donald Trump to bypass through traditional media, to reach out to younger voters, it was a really smart piece of advice.

[17:45:02]

Of course, it wasn't Kirk merely advising Donald Trump to bypass the traditional media to reach out to younger voters. Charlie Kirk did it himself. Right?

It's, of course, we've seen all those campus rallies that he did engaging with younger voters there. But, of course, it was also on podcast, on digital, where Charlie Kirk was engaging with younger voters.

So, get this the Charlie Kirk Show podcast ranking, well this past quarter, it ranked in the top 10 in news. Ranked in the top 10. So, it wasn't just that Charlie Kirk was advising Donald Trump. It was, of course, that Charlie Kirk was meeting the younger voters where they were and trying to persuade them to his side of the aisle.

And based upon the 2024 election results, I think we can say that Charlie Kirk was quite successful. Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: All right. Harry, thank you.

Let's take a look at some other top stories we're following tonight. Israel is intensifying its attacks in Gaza after dozens of Palestinians were killed yesterday. Today, Israel says it struck another high rise building in Gaza City as part of the Army's offensive to occupy the city.

A social media post shows the tower being destroyed shortly after an evacuation order was issued. The barrage of heavy Israeli air strikes across Gaza today, killing at least 70 people. Most of those deaths were in the north where families were pulled from the rubble. Israel says it hit more than 500 targets in Gaza City, and is vowing to use what it calls, extreme force.

Reports of a fire on a United Airlines flight in Japan, sent passengers down the plane's evacuation slides. After the Boeing 727 made an emergency landing, the airline said pilots saw a warning sign of a possible fire in the cargo hold. But after an inspection by a maintenance crew on the ground, the airline says it was a false alarm. There was no indication of a fire.

135 passengers, though, were evacuated. Two of them were injured during that evacuation, and did have to go to the hospital with minor injuries.

Still ahead here tonight, the killing of Charlie Kirk has made lawmakers on Capitol Hill demand more security when they hold events outside of D.C. They are also rethinking their way of politics. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:51:53]

DEAN: All this week, we are recognizing "CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE". Men and women using their talents in areas like business, medicine, and music to make life better for others.

And today, we meet CNN anchor and chief legal analyst, Laura Coates champion, Melissa Walker. Melissa empowers young people to develop life skills, foster creativity, and cultivate community through America's home-grown art form, jazz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, ready, go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Growing up was tough. Music was really like the main thing that helped me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Music can allow you to feel things.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was one of those students that really needed jazz house to give them a future. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jazz was the one place in society where I was celebrated for being Indian.

MELISSA WALKER, FOUNDER, JAZZ HOUSE KIDS: When you come to the JAZZ HOUSE, you see who matters most. Everyone.

LAURA COATES, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Melissa Walker founded JAZZ HOUSE KiDS, back in 2002, to try to bridge the gap in music education.

WALKER: Over 50 percent of the young people here, their families need some level of support. And for us, it's making sure kids have an instrument, they have a bus, they have tuition assistance.

Part of our mission is to make sure that those doors are swinging wide open.

COATES: Hi.

WALKER: Could we visit you?

COATES: Can I hear a little bit of it?

WALKER: We allow far too many young people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two.

WALKER: To not have access to the very things that would unlock their greatness. My greatest reward is seeing lives changed and transformed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Playing the saxophone has helped me in real life, with school, with friends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think people just need that one person to like, believe in them and push you forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was able to, you know, have direction and make it to college.

Yes.

COATES: -- beautiful.

WALKER: Jazz just improves and boosts their achievement.

You have to have that focus, set goals, manage your time, be able to make real- time life decisions.

COATES: My son Adrian is a saxophonist. My daughter Sydney plays the trumpet. I have seen within them the confidence, the persistence, the improvement across other subjects in school, by being able to use the skills that they learned through music.

COATES: I want to take you back to when you were a kid. When you met jazz. Something was ignited within you.

WALKER: Well, I grew up in a family that loved music. It was Rhythm and Blues, and it was soul music. But when I heard the music of Billie Holiday, it was that pain, that emotion in that music, and that really became a journey of exploration for me.

[17:55:17]

COATES: The intergenerational communication that jazz provides is stunning.

WALKER: I always think of jazz as the only place where you can get an 8-year-old and an octogenarian, on the stage together, doing something productive.

COATES: Yes.

WALKER: The guiding principle here, at JAZZ HOUSE, is to be the best of you there that you can be.

And if we can do that and do it together, which is what you do on the bandstand.

WALKER: You are now watching democracy in action.

COATES: Wow. Great job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Sure to tune in tonight at 10:00 Eastern for "CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE", one hour special, hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. We'll be right back.

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